Of spacedogs and butterflies
by Misura
Summary: [AU] Seto Kaiba will go to any length to overthrow the empire that killed his brother. Even if he has to work with a Spacedog. [SetoJoey, with some yy, rb, mm]
1. One

Of spacedogs and butterflies

Warnings/notes : SF AU, Seto/Joey, Yami/Yugi, Bakura/Ryou, Marik/Malik, evil Anzu (or so it would seem), Mokuba, Mai, Pegasus, Otogi?, weird stuff

Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. This fic was inspired by two things : Kaira-chan's Seto/Anzu-fic "Dreams aren't reality" (Joey the Evil Spacedog) and the Deathstalker-serie by Stephen Green, on which the setting is based, more or less. 

written at 9th october 2003, by Misura

**********

He still remembered the day they came to get his little brother, dragging him away to an unknown fate. He could still hear that shrill voice, calling out to him.

_"Seto! Help me! I don't want to go with them!"_

_He rose, in spite of knowing he'd only get himself arrested -or worse- if he tried to intervene. His father -well, stepfather actually, as he'd discover only later- held him back._

_"It's better this way." There was not a hint of compassion in Gozaburo's eyes._

_"*You* told them." Seto choked on the words, on the rage flooding him. "You - "_

_"I did what was needed for the continuation of our House." Gozaburo interrupted him coldly. "That kid is obviously Gifted and trying to hide it would only have meant the rest of us would get dragged away as well. There's nothing you can do." _

He had obeyed those words then, believing they were true. He was, after all, nothing but a single teenager. What chance did he have against the Imperial Guard, against *her*?

None. At the time, Gozaburo had been right. Now though, Seto was the leader of his House. A House that was one of the most powerful ones in the Empire.

There was little doubt Mokuba was long dead by now, but the system, and the woman behind the system that had murdered him, were still alive and in control. For the moment.

Revenge, it was said, was a dish best served cold.

Seto Kaiba had waited seven years. Seven years of gathering every bit of useful information, every name that might be of use, every piece of weaponry he might acquire without drawing attention.

He would stop at nothing to accomplish his goals. Not even if he had to plead his case before one of the most wanted criminals in the known galaxy, the man that was called 'The Spacedog', who was rumored to own a fleet half the size of the Imperial Fleet. 

Privately, Seto highly doubted the truth of that, but it was reasonable to assume the Spacedog possessed at least *some* spaceships. And every rebellion had to start somewhere ...

*~*~*~*~*

"Will you sit quiet for a second?!?" Mai snapped. "You're acting like ... like a nervous, young bride."

"Shut up!" Joey hissed, gulping down another glass of juice. Mai preferred not to ask if he had added anything alcoholic to it. "Perhaps I am just a wee little bit ... edgy, yes. So what?"

"Why?" Mai inquired. "I've never seen you like this before. What's so special about this Seto Kaiba that you're scared of him?"

"I'm not - " Joey began heatedly. Mai raised one eyebrow. "All right, so I *am* not too eager to meet with him. That guy's a creep! Honestly, haven't you heard about what he's done to the guys that took his little brother to the Inner Palace? Haven't you heard any of the talk about how he killed his own father?"

"Stepfather." Mai corrected him absently, pouring some coffee for herself. "And I thought that was all gossip anyway."

"No proof, no official investigation. Doesn't mean he didn't do it." Joey shrugged.

"All right, so let's assume for the moment he *did* kill some people. Big deal. It's not like *we* have a stainless past." Mai pointed out.

"It's not the same." Joey maintained. "He's a ... a killer. A courtier. A noble."

Mai sighed. "So ... why did you agree to meet him in the first place? Why go through all this trouble to get here if you don't really want to talk to him?"

"I didn't say that." Joey finally sat down. "I just don't like him. Or trust him. But he says he wants a rebellion, to overthrow the empress herself, to change everything that's wrong. How could I refuse his invitation, risk missing what might be the biggest adventure of my life?"

Mai laughed. "Then off you go, Spacedog. And don't let him smell you're afraid."

Joey made a rude noise and stalked out of the room.

*~*~*~*~*

Yami let his gaze sweep over the guests at the -utterly boring- party and wondered what he was doing here. The drinks were barely drinkable, the food was downright bad and the conversation was enough to put any reasonable person to sleep.

A high-pitched laugh reminded him. Forcing his lips to twist upwards in a slight smile, he turned around to see what the Empress, the guest of honor at this reception, found so amusing.

Not, he reflected sourly, that it was particularly hard to amuse her. Only a trifle bit harder than to annoy her, earning a single trip to one of the Outer Planets. The Empress was a dangerous woman to be around for very long ; sooner or later everyone slipped, misinterpreted her mood and got shipped off with the kind 'suggestion' not to return for, say, another five years.

Yami hadn't. He was the exception to the rule. People whispered it was because the Empress was in love with him, but he knew it wasn't that. He was, quite simply, intelligent. More intelligent than the rest of the court. More intelligent than the Empress, with her silver laugh and cruel eyes.

And much too smart to ever let it show, to openly vie for more power or wealth. He was content with observing, watching others throw themselves in the abyss of politics. As far as the world knew, Yami was nothing but an annoying fop, someone who was not to be taken seriously.

He might have the Empress' ear, yet what good was that if he didn't use that opportunity? Yami sighed. None of them seemed to understand that power wielded was power lost. None of them seemed to be capable of seeing through the meaninglessness of it all, the whole facade of the court's political schemes and powergames.

The Empress ruled. The rest of them obeyed. And one day soon, Yami was going to die of boredom.

~tbc?~


	2. Two

Of spacedogs and butterflies

Warnings/notes : SF AU, Seto/Joey, Yami/Yugi, Bakura/Ryou, Marik/Malik, evil Anzu (or so it would seem), Mokuba, Mai, Pegasus, Otogi?, weird stuff

Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. This fic was inspired by two things : Kaira-chan's Seto/Anzu-fic "Dreams aren't reality" (Joey the Evil Spacedog)  and the Deathstalker-serie by Simon R. Green, on which the setting is based, more or less. 

written at 12th october 2003, by Misura

Thanks to the people who reviewed the first chapter and made me continue this fic :

To Camille : I'm not *that* evil! ^^;

To Lone Wolf55 : Thank you for the encouragement.

To hieiandkuramalover : You said the magical word so …

To Mel Gods : I think that it's actually *better* that you haven't read the serie ; I uhm kind of left out a lot of things. And added some of my own. ^^; All characters you encounter in this fic are from Yu Gi Oh ; it's not a cross-over fic or something like that. Yes, Yugi will pop up too, in a later chapter. Glad to hear you like it! ^_^

To La La Land : Thanks for the encouragement and the wish. ^_^

To yuki44 : Thank you, I did.

To **** :  Say the magical word …. ?

To DcSolstice : Yes, well, the loner against the evil empire isn't exactly a rare plot. And Simon Green uses it too and he didn't get sued either, so I hope I'm safe too. ^^; Hm, I tend to leave the word 'that' out of a lot of sentences, like 'he said he'd kill me' which should be 'he said that he'd kill me'. I'll check my grammar-book for the proper ruling ; thanks for pointing it out to me! ^_^

To Shiroki Kietsuki : Knowledge of the Deathstalker-books is probable not a good thing, considering what I did to that setting. ^^; Star Wars? Yes, there are some similarities I guess. Though I hope to have some originality as well. ^_^

To Psychotic Kitten : Thanks! Now I got thirteen in the end … unlucky number? ^^;

To Kaira-chan : Cowboy Bebop is great! I love that serie too! ^^; But, to reply to your review, yes, poor everybody! I just couldn't resist killing Gozaburo somehow, for what he allowed to be done to Mokuba. ^^; The sci-fi element's not that strong in the plot ; it's like the title says 'of Joey & co and being in love'. ^_^

To Lethe Seraph : Well, what *eventually* is going to happen between Seto and Joey isn't much of a surprise I think. ^^; Glad you liked that bit of Yami! ^_^

To QueenV : As long as Gozaburo's mean to Mokuba, he can count on Seto being there to kill him. Hehehe. ^^; Thank you very much for the encouragement! ^_^

**********

Ryou cautiously entered the room, ready to jump back at any sign of a trap. He was in one of the Main Towers of the Palace, a place normally only accessable for people with the highest level of clearance.

_Normally._ Ryou smirked. _Even an imperial security program can't keep me away._

Not that it had been *easy* to get in here, he had to admit, but still ... he *had* gotten in. Without anyone noticing thus far. If all went according to plan, no one would ever get to know he'd been here either. Except for his employers of course.

_"This mission is more dangerous than anything we've asked of you before." Malik looked serious, a somewhat unusual expression on his face._

_"It's also more useful to our Cause. If you manage to pull this off ... " Marik made a cutting gesture. "It'll be the beginning of their end." _

_"We don't know that for sure." Malik objected. "We just *think* so."_

_"That's as good as *knowing*." Marik waved his partner's words away. "We've never been wrong before. And why else would the Towers be that well guarded if they didn't contain anything important?"_

_"Important doesn't necessarily equal damaging to them if we get it." Malik replied._

_"And I can't take anything too big or heavy with me." Ryou put in. "Not without making getting out even riskier than it already is."_

_Malik and Marik both nodded. "Just take a look and tell us what's in there. That's all that's required. You'll get paid for the information, the usual fee." Malik assured him._

_"Though if there's something you could take, without it being missed too soon ... " Marik added._

_Ryou sighed. "Al right, I'll see what I can do. I'll need a detailed map though. And I want more than 'the usual fee'. Let's say, five times as much." He grinned, knowing there wasn't anyone else they could ask for the job. Not if they wanted them to succeed anyway._

_"Three." Marik countered, quickly as if he'd expected the demand. "And a bonus for any item you bring back with you from in there."_

_Ryou shrugged. "All right. You've got yourselves a deal."_

The halls were quiet. Too quiet, for a place in the heart of a palace that was crowded with people in the more public parts. Surely there ought to be personnel working here, guards patrolling against trespassers? Why didn't he hear anyone then?

Cold sweat trinkled down his spine as he approached a steel door, with another safety-slot next to it.

Pulling out some of his equipment, Ryou set to work, never entirely turning his back on the corridor behind him.

_"We suspect the most important item, whatever it is - " Malik unrolled a map of the fifty-sixth floor of the tower._

_"Or whomever." Marik interrupted._

_"Or whomever, yes," Malik agreed easily, "however, we suspect that it's kept *here*." He pointed at a central room on the floor, at the dead end of a corridor._

_"It's got a special security program guarding it, the cream of Imperial encoding." Marik added._

_"I can break it." Ryou smirked. "Nothing's good enough to keep *me* out of any place I want to go."_

_"So we hope." Malik sighed, while Marik merely grinned._

A green light and a soft beep told Ryou his self-assurance had not been misplaced. As usual.

He *was* the best after all.

*~*~*~*~*

Seto Kaiba, Joey had to admit, was not as unpleasant as he thought he'd be. Not quite.

The man was arrogant, cold and very frugal with his information, but there was something about him that drew Joey's sympathy somehow. Something in Seto reminded him of himself.

Which was ridiculous, really, for what could a modern Robin Hood and a decadent noble who plotted rebellion possibly have in common?

_Aside from a taste for trouble, that is. Or should that be justice?_

_*Why* is he so keen on removing the system that produced him, made him one of the most powerful men in the Empire?_

_And is he going to bite my head off if I ask?_

Joey concluded that yes, that last was a realistic possibility. Perhaps he could put the question to Seto at a later point, when they'd come to trust eachother a little more.

_I may not like his attitude, but ... he's definitely thought about this a lot._

_He might succeed, with the right allies. And he wants *me*._

_Mai may be right when she says I'm crazy, but what the heck, we only live once!_

"Seto - " he started, only to have Seto shut him up with a gesture.

"I prefer to be adressed by my last name. Though you may drop the required 'my lord' at the start." Seto's lips curled in a sardonic smile.

Joey threw him a dirty look.

_Like I would ever call *you* 'my lord'. Hah!_

_Where do you think you are? This isn't the court, where you can impress people with your prissy attitude and a pretty title alone._

_You're at *my* ship. I could demand you to call me 'Captain' and toss you out of the airlock if you refused, without anyone the wiser._

"Kaiba, you got yourself a deal." Joey sighed. "And you can call me 'Joey', like all my friends do. Or 'Captain Wheeler', if you'd rather keep it formal."

"Hmmm, I think I'll simply call you 'Spacedog'. It suits you so much better." Seto's smirk only widened at Joey's half-stunned, half-furious expression.

~tbc?~


	3. Three

Of spacedogs and butterflies

Warnings/notes : SF AU, Seto/Joey, Yami/Yugi, Bakura/Ryou, Marik/Malik, evil Anzu (or so it would seem), Mokuba, Mai, Pegasus, Otogi?, weird stuff

Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. This fic was inspired by two things : Kaira-chan's Seto/Anzu-fic "Dreams aren't reality" and the Deathstalker-serie by Simon Green, on which the setting is based, more or less. 

written at 17th october 2003, by Misura

Thanks to the people who reviewed the second chapter :

To Tsuki999 : Thank you!

To Kaira-chan : Well, being cute and innocent all the time can get boring ne? Besides, I already had other plans for Bakura-chan. Hehehe. *cackles evilly* ^_^;

To Omae-o-korosu sorceress : Thank you, hope you'll enjoy this one as well.

To WookieeBeta : *gulps* Uhm, well, I'm just being honest. SF's not really what I usually write. Thank you very much for the praise!

To Icy Flame : ^^; Yes, what would this world come to if Jou wasn't Seto's 'pup' anymore? Glad to hear you liked it!

To Temptress Nagisa : ^^; Well, Jou will always be Seto's 'puppy' I think. It's just the way things are. Glad you enjoyed it!

To Mel Gods : Thanks for both the review and the advise on buying anime-dvds. As to Ryou and Bakura …

Bakura : Ryou will always be my cute, innocent hikari, who adores and worships me in spite of all the mental torture I put him through day by day to uphold my image of evilness. ^_^

Ryou : Riiiight. Dream on, Tombrobber! I rob living people! ^_^ 

To hieiandkuramalover : It's a combination of high-tech equipment and authoress' favor I'm afraid, so he can't teach you, sorry. Thank you!

To Chronicles Bailey : Thank you.

To LoneWolf55 : Thank you, I did my best.

To overlyobsessedwithyugi : Thanks for the encouragement!

To bladegryphon : Thank you, I tried to.

To DarkOpalDragon : Glad to hear you liked it. 

To Puppy Love : Thank you very much. You spoke the magical word so …

*

Warning : an overly romantic Marik/Malik-scene

**********

Yugi, the youngest member of House Mutou, stared down at the surface of Domino which seemed to consist solely of city and factories. It should have been ugly, especially to someone like him, who had been raised on a green, mainly agricultural planet.

Somehow though, there was something inexplicably compelling, almost beautiful about the view below him. Even the factories had this quality of elegance about them, being nothing at all like the ugly buildings with smoking chimneys he'd seen at school.

The seven Towers dominated the skyline as the spacecraft set in its landing. Though they were marvels of architecture, even in the capital, Yugi couldn't look at them without a cold lump of ice forming in his stomach. No one who went in there had ever returned ...

__

Except for the Empress herself.

Whom I'm supposed to convince to change her mind about the reformation of our planet.

*If* I manage to get to speak to her.

Without stuttering or saying something stupid and embarrassing.

Yugi swallowed, desperately wishing there'd have been someone else to send. Or at least someone to acompany him to Domino, someone he'd have been able to talk to.

__

Grandfather would have come with me if he hadn't been too ill for space-travel.

I can call him as soon as I'm settled in here.

*~*~*~*~*

"Yugi Mutou ... an unlikely candidate if ever I saw one."

"He'll do fine. Give him some time to adapt."

"To get corrupted by this rotten city and its inhabitants, you mean?"

"Innocence is highly overrated."

"You ought to know. Though you're really much too young to be so cynical I think."

"Thinking is overrated as well. Especially yours."

*~*~*~*~*

"You know, I'm still not quite sure if we did the right thing." Malik remarked. He and Marik were in their private quarters, meaning they were officially unreachable except in the direst emergency.

"Could you be a bit more specific?" Marik asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee and silently offering his partner one as well, raising a second cup with a questioning look.

Malik nodded gratefully. "I mean Ryou."

"What about him?" Marik inquired, spilling some of the coffee as he handed the cup to Malik, who winced slightly as the hot liquid touched the skin of his hand. "Sorry."

"You're a walking disaster." Malik muttered.

Marik flushed slightly, biting back an angry retort. "So are you." he replied instead.

"Because I'm you and you are me?" Malik sighed. "I really hate the person who thought *we* were a good idea."

Marik raised one eyebrow, a teaseful glimmer in his eyes as he walked over to Malik, pulling the other boy who looked so much like himself in a gentle embrace. "You'd rather not have had me?"

"That's - " Malik started, before Marik sealed his lips with his own. "Not true." he finished, as they broke apart for air after a while. "And you know it."

Marik grinned. "Of course. Though it's always nice to hear you love me."

"I love you." Malik breathed. His eyes were slightly glazed.

"Hmmm." Marik purred, nuzzling his lover's cheek. "So what was this about you having doubts about Ryou?"

"Huh?" Malik blinked, his brains neding a few seconds to adapt to this turn in the conversation, seemingly having forgotten the subject he'd brought up in the first place. "Well ... don't you think we should have told him a bit more about what he was getting himself into with this mission?"

"Why?" Marik's eyes were wide and very innocent. Too innocent, especially considering the way his hands were behaving underneath Malik's shirt, making it a little hard to think for the other boy.

"Because ... " Malik tied to uncloud his mind, to ban the images Marik's actions were summoning. He didn't have much success, in part because he didn't really *want* to stop seeing those pictures. Besides, if Marik wasn't concerned about Ryou, why would he have to be?

"Stop thinking so much. It hurts your head and it's distracting you from what's really important right now." Marik murmured.

Malik couldn't think of a single reason not to agree with that. He nodded his head, allowing Marik to pull him along to their bedroom. 

Two cups of coffee stood on the kitchen-table, forgotten, their contents slowly cooling down.

*~*~*~*~*

"Well, Spacedog, I think it's probably best for now if we split up. *You* can go see if any of your colleagues might be interested in joining us, while I will return to court, to do the same with my fellow-nobles." Seto proposed. For some reason, Mai was beginning to get as annoyed by the sound of his voice as Joey, even if she managed to hide it better.

__

Though I'm beginning to wonder just how important this rebellion *is* to Kaiba.

Getting on your allies' nerves like he does ... on purpose ... doesn't seem very smart to me.

"How do I ... we - " an apologetic sideways glance at Mai " - know you'll do as you say?" Joey demanded.

__

Good. He doesn't bother protesting to that stupid nickname any more.

Maybe that'll take the fun out of it for Kaiba.

She nodded once, to show she agreed with Joey. To remind Kaiba he might be able to play Joey, riling him up to a point where the blond was hardly capable of rational thoughts, but that *she* was still there as well, and a lot less easy to bait.

"I always do what I say." Seto replied smoothly. Too smoothly.

Joey snorted, speaking for both of them. Nobody could survive five years at court without breaking his word at least once, without ever lying. Definitely not someone as prominent as the head of House Kaiba. 

__

Someone rumored to have killed his own father to get his current position.

And there was some younger sibling too ... Mokuba or something like that ... gossip said his big brother had something to do with his 'disappearance' as well.

Something about an incestuous relationship ... poor kid not even knowing anything was wrong ...

"We need more of a guarantee than that." Mai remarked, swallowing as the full force of those unsettling intense blue eyes was turned onto her instead of Joey. Her expression showed nothing of her unease though, levelly gazing back at Seto.

__

I'm not afraid of you.

I'm a capable, rational human being, who probably has a lot less blood on her hands than you.

And I'm not going to let you add Joey to your list of victims. Or me.

"Do you have a better proposal then, Miss ... Valentine?" Seto asked finally, a hint of 'polite' doubt in his voice. Mai smiled back sweetly.

__

Am I supposed to feel insulted the high and mighty Lord Kaiba has trouble remembering my name?

Weak, Kaiba, really weak. You'll have to do much better than that to get to me the way you did to Joey.

"Why, yes, it so happens we do." She put a slight emphasis on the word 'we'.

__

There's two of us and only one of you ... we're superior here.

~tbc?~


	4. Four

Of spacedogs and butterflies

Warnings/notes : SF AU, Seto/Joey, Yami/Yugi, Bakura/Ryou, Marik/Malik, evil Anzu (or so it would seem), Mokuba, Mai, Pegasus, Otogi?, weird stuff

Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. This fic was inspired by two things : Kaira-chan's Seto/Anzu-fic "Dreams aren't reality" and the Deathstalker-serie by Simon Green, on which the setting is based, more or less. 

written at 22nd october 2003, by Misura

Thanks to the people who reviewed the third chapter :

To Chronicles Bailey : ^^; Here's more, sorry for the delay. Hope you'll enjoy it too! :)

To JuniperMoon : Thank you very much! I enjoyed to write Mai this way too so ... ^_^

To Pocketfirefairy : Actually, it's based on another SF-novel. But ah well, glad you like it! :)

To Kaira-chan : Uhm, what's the difference between a typo and a slip-in-typing-and-checking? And I'm glad you point them out to me, so I can correct them! Thank you! ^_^

To Mel Gods : Actually there was no incestuous relationship in the Kaiba-family at all. It was just a rumor. *shrugs* Seto's quite powerful after all, so some people like to throw mud at him. ^^; Thank you! :)

To The Chaotic Ones : Here's a little more, hope you'll like it! :)

To alostblackcat : Sorry, not very soon in updating this fic. Hope you'll like the new chapter! :)

To Lone Wolf55 : Ah yes, the joys of subtitles. ^^; I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well. ^_^

To overlyobsesedwithyugi : Uhm, I did my best? ^^; Sorry for the long wait.

To hieiandkuramalover : Well, Mai has her grand moments I think. Like when she dueled that icky moviestar (Battle City) or when she gave Joey that card he needed for the finals (Duelist Kingdom). Glad to hear you like the way I wrote her! :)

**********

At first sight, the room Ryou had just entered, the room that was secured by one of the best and most modern security systems currently in use -Imperial use that was, since private persons weren't even allowed to know it existed- was empty.

No furniture, no computers, no weapons ... nothing. Just a round, windowless room, with a peculiar pattern on the floor that suggested to Ryou that there probably were some more booby-traps installed here, to make sure no one who entered got out again.

__

But why would anyone enter an empty room?

It doesn't make sense. The possibility of this being some sort of elaborated trap, a distraction from where the real goodies are kept doesn't seem too likely either.

Her majesty's never been known for being subtle.

And it wasn't exactly a piece of cake to get here.

Hovering in the door-opening, Ryou let his gaze wander through the suspicious room, not about to inadvertently trip some alarm. The walls, as well as the ceiling and the floor, were elaborately decorated, in a style he didn't quite recognize at first.

__

Pretty basic use of colors, mostly yellow and red in a few variations, with specks of black and white for the eyes. Blue, used sparingly.

Ryou frowned.

__

Terran, pre-colonial time. *Very* pre-colonial. Archaic.

Used in ... Egypt, for those pyramids that have survived for over ten-thousand years now.

Almost unaware of it, Ryou's feet stepped forwards, taking him closer to the center of the room, where all lines met in a circle of gold.

*~*~*~*~*

"He's good. Better than I'd expected."

"Yeah, I only had to help him three times, to keep the Imperial Guards from storming in and grabbing him. I wonder why it's always a thief that comes for it."

"Well, would anyone else be able to get in? Even with your discreet aid?"

"No, but there *are* seven of those damn towers, you know. Why not pick another one to try and rob?"

"Perhaps ... nah. probably not."

"What? I can't read minds you know. Tell me."

"No. It was a foolish idea."

*~*~*~*~*

In the vast emptiness of space, a ship floated. Its markings proclaimed it to be quite old, a mere few thousand years after the first exodus. Its corridors were still illuminated by flickering lights, though some had gone dark due to the passing of centuries without any maintenance.

Screens slowly flickered to life now, unseen to all, unnoticed by but one entity, who might have been human once. He'd forgotten, really, and it wasn't important enough to try and retrieve those particular memories.

There was one human on this ship, preserved in a cocoon of time that kept him at the age of seventeen, regardless how many years passed outside. The entity was here to guard him, to accomodate his awakening at the proper time, as the proper signal would be given.

Such hadn't been the case yet, but the entity could sense it wouldn't be long now.

'Soon. Very soon now.' A shiver of expectation ran through the ship, as if it was alive itself.

The darkness outside seemed undisturbed.

*~*~*~*~*

Ryou cursed as he found himself near the middle of the room, without any conscious memory of how he got there. The light that seemed to come out of the weird decoration on the floor, some sort of golden triangle in a circle, made him feel even less at ease.

Something odd was going on here and he didn't like it one bit. At least the door was still open, meaning he could always jump for that, hightailing it out of here, yet for how long? And would he be able to reach it in time if it'd start to close due to his making a wrong move?

He ought to get out this moment, now, before he got traped in here!

He shouldn't bend down to study some stupid floor-decoration.

He *definitely* shouldn't reach out to touch it. Who knew what kind of traps he'd trigger by that course of action? It would be an utterly stupid thing to do.

"Oh." He dumbly stared at the object in his hands. It seemed to be some sort of jewelry, to be worn around one's neck. Was this what they'd been guarding in here? Should he take it?

If he did, it probably wouldn't stay unnoticed for long. Better to put it back. Much more sensible.

"Damn." He was beginning to feel a bit dizzy. And what was that strange necklace doing around his halse? Hadn't he meant to leave it behind? His legs became kind of wobbly too, he noticed with a faint sense of alarm. This wasn't good.

The floor seemed to rush up to meet him.

No, this wasn't good at all. 

~tbc?~


	5. Five

Of spacedogs and butterflies

*****

Warnings/notes : SF AU, Seto/Joey, Yami/Yugi, Bakura/Ryou, Marik/Malik, evil Anzu (or so it would seem), Mokuba, Mai, Pegasus, Otogi?, weird stuff

Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. This fic was inspired by two things : Kaira-chan's Seto/Anzu-fic "Dreams aren't reality" (Joey the Evil Spacedog) and the Deathstalker-serie by Simon Green, on which the setting is based, more or less. 

written at 25th october 2003, by Misura

Thanks to the people who reviewed the fourth chapter :

To hieiandkuramalover : Don't worry, Ryou's fine. More than fine, even. But thanks for your concern! : )

To Kaira-chan : Little? Only one of them's little, actually. I think you can guess who the other person is by the end of the chapter. ^_^ Thank you very much!

To apocalipticoblivion : Thank you! : )

To Mel Gods : You'll find out this chapter, but yes, Malik has had a scene already, with Marik. Thank you! ^_^

To FREAK014 : Glad the mysteries don't bug you! Thank you very much! : )

To Fleep : *blushes and beams* Thank you very much!

To The Chaotic Ones : Ryou'll be all right, I promise! : )

To YaoiYaoiYeah : Thank you very much!

To Temptress Nagisa : Well, I don't know about you, but I'm just trying to get Ryou together with a certain Tombrobber … ^^; Thank you!

**********

"I am *not* going to chase around the galaxy to talk to scum like ... like ... " Kaiba didn't seem to like her proposal much, Mai noted with some amusement. Not that she'd expected him to.

"Like me?" Joey suggested, a wild grin on his face.

"I didn't say that." Kaiba replied stiffly. Only his eyes showed his annoyance at being forced into a defensive position.

"But you were thinking it." Joey pointed out, still with that infuriating grin on his face.

"That's called 'diplomacy', Joey." Mai informed him, savoring the scowl Kaiba threw in her direction. "It's an accomplished form of art at court."

"You sound like you've got first-hand experience with that place." Kaiba remarked. There was a hint of vindiction in his voice. 

She snorted. "Hardly. And even if I did, it wouldn't be important right now."

Joey nodded. "Mai's past is no one's business but her own. You've heard our offer, Kaiba. Take it or leave it."

Kaiba studied Joey's face as if searching for something, Mai wasn't sure what. Then he nodded, a spark of something akin to recklessness in his eyes. It was gone so soon Mai wasn't sure if she hadn't merely imagined it. "I take it. Where do we start?"

*~*~*~*~*

The first thing he sensed was being carried. By someone with long hair, considering the way he felt it tickling his face. He managed to keep from sneezing, careful to keep his body as limp as if he was still unconscious. He might not get more than one chance at an escape.

"He has regained consciousness." A voice remarked. It sounded like a mere child's, a teenager at most.

"Yes, I know. And contemplating the best way to knock me out and get away already." A man's voice, this one, with a tinge of sadness.

A chuckle. "Well, better hurry up then. You can put him down here."

He was put on some stony surface, gently like he was made of porcelain. It puzzled Ryou a little, this care for his health. Who else but the Empress' guards could have found him? Surely those wouldn't treat him this kindly?

"So young he is. Such an intrigueing mix of innocence and cynicism." The older voice again.

"He's older than I am." The younger voice, confirming Ryou's guess, if not revealing any reasons.

"In body, yes, but in spirit? I doubt it." A hand brushed some of the hair out of his face.

"Let's hope you're right. You can go now, I want to ask him something." Ryou wondered how it could be that a child, someone by his own admission even younger than he was, could order an adult around like that.

"Be careful. I'd hate to have to explain you getting killed to Anzu-dear." The sound of retreating footsteps.

"Ryou?" He kept his eyes shut, giving no sign of being aware of being spoken to. How could this boy know his name? He had been so careful all these years, wiping out all official traces of his existence.

"I know you can hear me, so I'll just pretend you nodded." the boy continued. "I have a favor to ask you. I imagine you're probably not in any mood to do me any favors but ... if it hadn't been for me, you'd be dead or in a cell right now. So ... you do owe me something I think."

"Just ask the stupid favor and get this over with." Ryou murmured, losing patience.

The sound of startled laughter. "Oh, I think I could get to like you. All right then, this is what I'd like you to do : when you meet Seto Kaiba, tell him ... " -a brief hesitation- "... tell him Mokuba says 'hi'. Can you do that?" There was a pleading note in the boy's voice.

"Depends on the circumstances." Ryou replied, cursing himself for not being able to refuse outright.

"Oh. I'd hoped ... never mind, I understand. Thank you." Small arms hugged him, retreating too quickly for him to either reject the embrace or to capture the boy giving it to him. "Go with Ra and Bakura then, Ryou. You'll need both of them."

His eyes fluttered open, catching a hint of dark purple and finding himself in one of the numerous back-alleys of Domino, where no one minded anyone's business but his own, if one placed any value on one's life and health, that was. He didn't immediately recognize his location, but he was pretty sure Malik and Marik would be find him soon. They always seemed to be able to find him somehow.

"What did he mean 'go with Ra and Bakura'?" Ryou muttered. "I don't even know who they are."

Well, Ra had been one of the terran gods, he recalled vaguely, but it wasn't very likely the boy had been referring to some ancient deity, was it?

The pale light of the sun reflected on something on his chest. Looking down he found himself still wearing the odd necklace he had found in the tower.

"And why did they let me keep this thing?"

*~*~*~*~*

Eyelids opened, revealing dark brown eyes that guardedly studied their environment, before fingers twitched and a hand reached out to support a body that had been lying motionless for far too long.

A tongue wetted scorched lips before a croaky voice managed to whisper a question. Volume mattered little to the raptly watching entity, really, so it chose to answer.

'Your name is Yami no Bakura.' it told the white-haired young man. 'You have been asleep for quite a long time, waiting for someone to take up a certain item.'

Of course it knew that someone's name, as well as the name of the item in question, but the entity decided it might be better to wait and see if Yami no Bakura remembered.

"Ryou." The name seemed to echo through the small space. "Ryou. He's alive."

'Again.' the entity added silently. It would only upset the young man to hear this Ryou wasn't the one he'd known so many years ago after all. Better to get him used to being awake again first.

"Who ... *what* are you?" A logical question, the entity had to admit. One that had puzzled itself too, every now and then.

'I am a Self-maintaining Holistic Advisory and Defensive Information-unit.' it replied. 'That's SHADI for short.' it added with something of pride. Shadi was a name humans ought to find easy to pronounce. Besides, the sound of it had a certain familiar ring to it.

~tbc?~


	6. Six

Of spacedogs and butterflies

******

Warnings/notes : SF AU, Seto/Joey, Yami/Yugi, Bakura/Ryou, Marik/Malik, evil Anzu (or so it would seem), Mokuba, Mai, Pegasus, Otogi?, weird stuff

Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. This fic was inspired by two things : Kaira-chan's Seto/Anzu-fic "Dreams aren't reality" (Joey the Evil Spacedog) and the Deathstalker-serie by Simon R. Green, on which the setting is based, more or less. 

written at 28th october 2003, by Misura

Thanks to the people who reviewed the fifth chapter :

To Kaira-chan : It took me quite a while to come up with SHADI I must admit. ^^; Thank you!

??????? : No, I am *not* Yami or Yugi. I have long hair, a man's voice (described as slightly sad) and I refer to Anzu as 'Anzu-dear'. Though it's true Misura didn't really make my identity too clear. *sighs* She should have put in something about me liking pink bunnies perhaps. ~.^

To KawaiiKireiKaiba : I did. Kind of. : )

To hieiandkuramalover : Thank you! I hope your Valentine's Day was enjoyable as well. : )

To Temptress Nagisa : Shadi is … not a robot. In fact, he's not even physical. Compare him to Noah ; that comes closest I think. ^^; Thank you! : )

To The Chaotic Ones (Chaos, Angel and Jef) : Hmmm, I'm afraid both romances will take a while. Especially Bakura and Ryou, since they haven't even met yet. ^^; Thank you! : )

**********

Another evening, another party. Yami sighed, allowing his gaze to wander through the room, looking for some sort of entertainment. Finally, they came to rest on a small boy, looking no older than fifteen, whose face he'd never seen before. A rarity, considering Yami had made it his business to know each and every person who meant anything.

And considering the amount of people -mostly girls- gathered around this particular boy, it was unlikely the boy didn't have some sort of importance. A soft smile playing on his lips, Yami began to make his way to the other end of the room, slow enough not to make his target obvious and to have some more opportunity to observe.

The girls seemed to do most of the talking, while the boy listened with a serious face, nodding every now and then, laughing when they laughed. Not the strongest of personalities apparently. Yami sighed, disappointed in spite of himself.

Picking up a full glass of whatever passed for wine in this house, Yami leaned against the wall, studying the boy more closely now, wondering who he was and what he was doing here. As far as he knew, no one would voluntarily come to these dreadfully boring parties. Everyone who was here had come with a purpose, ranging from simply wanting to be seen, parading as a distinguished person, to a wish for an opportunity to arrange a more ... private meeting.

And then there was himself. Though Yami was cautious by nature, he did consider himself rather unique, different from everyone else gathered here. Perhaps that was a mistake, but then again, considering he never shared that opinion with anyone, it didn't matter much. Yami didn't have the least desire to make friends or to find a 'kindred spirit' as romantic fools called it.

*~*~*~*~*

"So, you managed to get in and out all right?" Malik inquired, sipping from his mug of coffee with an expression that seemed to indicate he already knew the answer to that was going to be 'yes'. Which, considering Ryou was sitting here alive and well, might be a logical conclusion to draw. 

"The maps you got me were pretty accurate," Ryou began, shifting uncomfortably. Marik was eyeing him like a cat did a fat, little bird before it pounced. The odd necklace that was lying around his neck, currently hidden under his shirt seemed to go slightly cold. "Though there was some security-device on the main-door which I've never encountered before."

"That was to be expected. It's one of the reasons we contracted you after all, because you have an impressive record when it comes to improvising," Marik put in with a scowl. Ryou wondered why the blonde was so edgy, especially since Malik seemed completely relaxed. Usually, the two displayed an uncanny similarity in both opinions and moods, but presently the only thing that was the same about them were their looks.

"I did get in, of course. But they still detected me somehow. I got knocked out by a sort of gas." Much easier to believe that, to convince both himself and them that *that* was what had happened in that tower than that he had picked up some strange piece of jewelry which had whispered his name.

"Gas?" Malik asked with a hint of polite doubt in his tone. "Weren't you prepared for that? And wouldn't that damage the goods in the room?"

"You did sneak a look at them, a the very least, I assume?" Marik added.

"It was a smell-less variant. And you never mentioned anything about there being a risk for stuff like that," Ryou defended himself, annoyed at Malik questioning his abilities. "But yes, I did see the contents of the room. There wasn't anything in it."

"Nothing?" Malik and Marik exchanged a glance. Ryou couldn't suppress the impression that they exchanged words as well, but neither of the two spoke. Probably the gas was still affecting his perceptions.

"Nothing," Ryou repeated firmly.

"That's a disappointment," Malik admitted. Ryou tried to assess if Malik believed him, but couldn't quite determine that. His head felt a bit fuzzy. He reassured himself that he would take a few days off after he'd received his payment for this job.

"So ... how come you're sitting here unharmed instead of in some Imperial prison-cell?" Marik voiced the question Ryou had been asking himself without finding any satisfactory answer for it.

"I'm ... not sure," Ryou began, debating how much he was obliged to tell them, how much he *could* tell them without being considered crazy. "I woke up in a back-alley."

*~*~*~*~*

"Where is he? I want to see him!" Yami no Bakura demanded. The entity regretfully reflected that it might have been better if it had kept the information concerning Ryou a secret. At least until Yami no Bakura was a bit stronger physically.

But it was only a computer-program after all, it told itself. It couldn't be expected to understand and predict humans. Even other humans had lots of difficulties with that. Instead of lamenting its mistake, it would simply have to try to limit the damage.

'He is not here,' it informed the agitated young man. 'You need to recover before you can see him.'

"Still mad at me, is he?" There seemed to be a certain sadness to those words, though the entity wasn't quite sure of its cause. According to its data, Yami no Bakura had not been a person to overly value other people's opinions or feelings about him.

'Such might be the case,' it replied cautiously. The entity that had named itself SHADI wasn't capable of lying outright, yet it was intrigued by Yami no Bakura's emotions, his human-ness. And it wouldn't really do any harm to investigate his emotions regarding Ryou a little more.

"Well, I couldn't care less. He can sulk all he wants, that weakling!" Yami no Bakura muttered. The entity noted that if anyone was 'sulking', it was this young human himself. It sensed some sort of deception underlying Yami no Bakura's outward hostility, though the reasons and motivations for this act fully escaped the entity. Humans were ... odd.

'There is food, should you wish for nutrition,' it offered, reprimanding itself for not having mentioned this before, instead pursuing its own interests. It had been programmed to serve and protect, not to indulge in its own hobbies!

"I'm not hungry," Yami no Bakura snarled. A moment passed, the silence interrupted by a soft, rumbling sound. "But I guess I might as well take a bite."

'Indeed,' the entity murmured.

~tbc?~


	7. Seven

Of spacedogs and butterflies

*******

Warnings/notes : SF AU, Seto/Joey, Yami/Yugi, Bakura/Ryou, Marik/Malik, evil Anzu (or so it would seem), Mokuba, Mai, Pegasus, Otogi?, weird stuff

Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. This fic was inspired by two things : Kaira-chan's Seto/Anzu-fic "Dreams aren't reality" (Joey the Evil Spacedog) and the Deathstalker-serie by Simon R. Green, on which the setting is based, more or less. 

written at 1st november 2003, by Misura

**********

_Violet eyes ..._

She was restless today, pacing through her quarters - her big, *cold* quarters, stuffed with books, reports and meaningless gifts from meaningless people. The whispered comments behind her back had finally driven her to break off the audience, to give in to the urge to be petty.

Her gaze wandered around, searching for something to smash, to release the fury in her that had been building all through the day. Discarding a set of lovely carved antique vases, her eyes were drawn to the portrait they were arranged about.

"Stop *looking* at me!" Her voice was near breaking, far too close near breaking now, like the rest of her. Not a good thing that. Not good at all. She was never unobserved.

If the wrong persons found out she was as weak, as vulnerable as this, all her careful plans might be torn apart, all her sacrifices made in vain. She simply couldn't allow for that to happen.

_Violet eyes ..._

They were like sharks, all of them. And she was bleeding. As soon as they caught on to that, they'd be onto her, no longer held back by the illusion of her power and invulnerability. They'd turn on each other quickly enough, but not before she'd have been reduced to nothing.

Chaos would rule then, the order that she had established irretrievably lost in the rising tides of blood and destruction. She had to prevent that at all costs, regardless of what she had to give up to accomplish that ultimate goal. Or who.

"I wish I'd never seen your face!" Her hands reached out for the portrait, like claws wishing to rip something apart. Like she was some witch out of a faerietale. A monster. She shivered.

_Violet eyes ... a soft voice whispering ..._

In the end, she did break the vases. They shattered on the floor in what seemed like hundreds of pieces, big and small. She stared down at them with a grim sense of satisfaction. Better some pieces of pottery than a portrait that could never be replaced after all.

She sighed, sinking down in a chair, staring out of the window. The nightsky was of the deepest black, with only a few stars bravely spreading their light in the darkness. Below her, the city-lights twinkled in all kinds of colors, painting a deceptive picture of merriness.

_Violet eyes ... a soft voice whispering her name._

_"Anzu."_

She spun around, only to be faced with emptiness. As she should have known. As it had been all those other times when she had heard that voice.

*~*~*~*~*

"Who's *that*?" Yugi blurted out, his face growing red as soon as the words had left his mouth. Fortunately, the girl he was talking to (what was her name again? Miho?) didn't seem to mind. Or maybe she simply assumed he didn't know any better, coming from a pretty backward planet and all that. That thought made him blush even harder.

Only when the person in question lazily strolled in his direction, with a slightly amused expression on his face did Yugi realize he had spoken loud enough to be overheard by the subject of his interest. Thoroughly embarrassed now, he stared at his feet, wishing he could vanish from here.

"Who?" Miho turned around, an expression that was a mixture of distaste and uneasiness appearing on her face as she noticed the person in question. Who completely ignored her as if she wasn't there, making a slight bow for Yugi instead.

What would have been a gesture of respect or at least condescension from anyone else, somehow became an act of establishing superiority from this tall stranger, that could have been Yugi's mirror-image, had it not been for the differences in height and clothing.

"My name is Yami. And you are ... ?" Yami voice too wasn't the same as Yugi's. It was deeper, more controlled also, sounding fully neutral without giving away any of the feelings of its owner. Yami's eyes were of a deep ruby red, their gaze dispassionate, as if Yami wasn't too interested in anything. At least, Yugi hoped it wasn't just him that Yami found so boring.

After a while, Yugi realized he was staring at Yami, instead of answering the question. Blushing even deeper, Yugi stammered : "Yugi. Yugi Mutoh." He noted Yami hadn't given him any second name, but Yugi couldn't really think of any way to find out without seeming even more of an oaf.

"Pleased to meet you, Yugi. If you don't mind me calling you that." Yami smiled, almost as if he was amused at the concept that Yugi might, in fact, object to being adressed by his first name. Yugi told himself he was being a bit paranoid, that Yami might well be smiling simply because he wanted to put Yugi at ease, or because he genuinely *was* pleased to meet Yugi.

His instincts didn't agree with his rationalisations though, insisting instead that Yami was an arrogant and probably dangerous person Yugi had better get away from, the sooner the better. Yet as long as there was no polite way to end this conversation, Yugi guessed he'd better do his best to hide his discomfort and try not to blunder too much.

*~*~*~*~*

"Well? What do you think?" Malik inquired, after Ryou had left to return to his own hide-out, the location of which he had never entrusted to his sometimes employers. They knew where it was nonetheless, though Malik had never been quite sure if Ryou was aware of that. He and Marik had preferred not to flaunt their knowledge, instead leaving messages in specifically designated place to contact the young thief whenever they had a use for his talents.

The arrangement had suited both parties in the past, forcing neither of them to reveal their secrets or, in Ryou's case, to move elsewhere for the principle of his personal haven needing to be kept utterly secret. Ryou was no fool ; it was highly unlikely that Malik or Marik would have been able to track him by mundane means.

Marik shrugged. "He's got the Ring and he's hiding it. He evaded our questions about whether or not he took anything with him, before downright lying to us and claiming not to have seen a single object in that tower."

"That's not what I'm asking," Malik replied, impatiently druming his fingers on the table-surface. "By tradition, the Sennen Ring is connected with the ghost of the person who tried to rob the grave of one Akunamunkano, whose supposedly divine guardian-angel locked the culprit's soul in the Ring to serve and protect its wearers until he had made sufficient amends for his crime."

"You know my opinion of that story," Marik snorted. "To bind such a dark soul to an object of such power would have been the act of an irresponsible fool. Still," he added pensively, "we have found documents that seem to indicate the existence of such a ghost. But I didn't sense anything of something like that around Ryou."

"Neither did I," Malik admitted. "Perhaps the Item is no longer possessed, after all this time. Or ... maybe Ryou *is* the thief reincarnated."

"Impossible." Marik shook his head. "You're looking for explanations for something that doesn't need one. We should be glad there's no bothersome Spirit around to stick his nose in ours and Ryou's business. Everything will be much easier this way, with Ryou unaware of what the Ring can do and us still holding all the trump-cards."

"I still have an uneasy feeling about this," Malik muttered. Marik ignored him.

~discontinued until further notice~

A/N : Make a curious authoress happy and guess whom Anzu was thinking about?


End file.
